Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial (e.g. woodlice, sandhoppers), some are parasitic (e.g. Rhizocephala, fish lice, tongue worms) and some are sessile (e.g. barnacles). The group has an extensive fossil record, reaching back to the Cambrian. More than 7.9 million tons of crustaceans per year are harvested by fishery or farming for human consumption, consisting mostly of shrimp and prawns. Krill and copepods are not as widely fished, but may be the animals with the greatest biomass on the planet, and form a vital part of the food chain. The scientific study of crustaceans is known as carcinology (alternatively, malacostracology, crustaceology or crustalogy), and a scientist who works in carcinology is a carcinologist.

The body of a crustacean is composed of segments, which are grouped into three regions: the cephalon or head, the pereon or thorax, and the pleon or abdomen. The head and thorax may be fused together to form a cephalothorax, which may be covered by a single large carapace. The crustacean body is protected by the hard exoskeleton, which must be moulted for the animal to grow. The shell around each somite can be divided into a dorsal tergum, ventral sternum and a lateral pleuron. Various parts of the exoskeleton may be fused together.

The name "crustacean" dates from the earliest works to describe the animals, including those of Pierre Belon and Guillaume Rondelet, but the name was not used by some later authors, including Carl Linnaeus, who included crustaceans among the "Aptera" in his Systema Naturae. The earliest nomenclatural valid work to use the name "Crustacea" was Morten Thrane Brünnich's Zoologiæ Fundamenta in 1772, although he also included chelicerates in the group.

The traditional classification of Crustacea based on morphology recognised four to six classes. Bowman and Abele (1982) recognised 652 extant families and 38 orders, organised into six classes: Branchiopoda, Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Maxillopoda, Ostracoda, and Malacostraca. Martin and Davis (2001) updated this classification, retaining the six classes but including 849 extant families in 42 orders. Despite outlining the evidence that Maxillopoda was non-monophyletic, they retained it as one of the six classes, although did suggest that Maxillipoda could be replaced by elevating its subclasses to classes. Since then phylogenetic studies have confirmed the polyphyly of Maxillopoda and the paraphyletic nature of Crustacea with respect to Hexapoda. Recent classifications recognise ten to twelve classes in Crustacea or Pancrustacea, with several former maxillopod subclasses now recognised as classes (e.g. Thecostraca, Tantulocarida, Mystacocarida, Copepoda, Branchiura and Pentastomida).

Many crustaceans are consumed by humans, and nearly 10,700,000 tons were harvested in 2007; the vast majority of this output is of decapod crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp, crayfish, langoustine and prawns. Over 60% by weight of all crustaceans caught for consumption are shrimp and prawns, and nearly 80% is produced in Asia, with China alone producing nearly half the world's total. Non-decapod crustaceans are not widely consumed, with only 118,000 tons of krill being caught, despite krill having one of the greatest biomasses on the planet. Krill are, however, a speciality in China and Japan and are used pickled in Korea. They are also consumed in Artic regions and are being introduced to new consumers as fusion recipes using frozen and tinned krill. Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes pollicipes) are a speciality of Spanish cuisine (recipes including krill and gooseneck barnacles can be found in the links below). The Pacific goose barnacle, Pollicipes elegans is also consumed, particularly in Alaska. The Japanese goose barnacle, Capitulum mitella is eaten in Japan. The Chilean giant barnacle or picoroco (Austromegabalanus psittacus) is routinely fished for food. Woodlice are sometimes consumed by foragers. Dried prawns (locally known as crawfish) are used as a flavouring and thickener in West African stews.

The alphabetical list of all the Crustacean-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 643 recipes in total:

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Kari Ikan (Malaysian Fish Curry)      Origin: Malaysia	Langoustes grillées au beurre vanillé (Grilled Lobsters with Vanilla Butter)      Origin: New Caledonia	Malaysian Lamb Rendang      Origin: Malaysia
Kari Koko (Seychellois King Prawn and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Seychelles	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Sint Maarten	Mallow Leaf Gumbo      Origin: Britain
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Aruba	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Saint Barthelemy	Mandarin Prawns      Origin: Fusion
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Bonaire	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Mangalorean Prawn Sukka      Origin: India
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Curacao	Langoustines bretonnes sautées au beurre salé (Breton langoustines sautéed in salted butter)      Origin: France	Mangoé Rafalari (Spicy Mango Stew)      Origin: Guinea
Karrísúpa (Icelandic Curry Soup)      Origin: Iceland	Lao Tam Som (Lao Green Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos	Manhattan Seafood Stew      Origin: American
Katakou au Poisson Frais (Palm Soup Base with Fresh Fish)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Laska      Origin: Malaysia	Masak Lemak (Cabbage in Coconut Milk Gravy)      Origin: Malaysia
Ke'lagu'en Uhang (Prawns and Peppers)      Origin: Guam	Le cassoulet de la mer à la bretonne (Breton seaside cassoulet)      Origin: France	Massaman Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Ke'lagu'en Uhang (Prawns and Peppers)      Origin: Northern Mariana Islands	Le Chao Men (New Caledonian Chaw Mein)      Origin: New Caledonia	Matapa de Abóbora (Pumpkin Matapa)      Origin: Mozambique
Kedjenou      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Le Ndolé Camerounais (Cameroonian Ndolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Matsavo (Pumpkin Leaf and Peanut Flour Stew)      Origin: Mozambique
Kejenou avec Agouti (Kejenou with Cane Rat)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Lemon Chilli Chicken      Origin: Cocos Islands	Mauritian Prawn Curry      Origin: Mauritius
Kekefia (Plantain Pottage)      Origin: Nigeria	Lemongrass Curry      Origin: Cambodia	Mbanga Soup (Palm Nut Soup)      Origin: Cameroon
Kelenkelen (Fish with Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Cameroon	Liberian Prawn Bisque      Origin: Liberia	Mbolo      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Khayan thee Hnat (Burmese Stuffed Aubergine Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Liberian Spaghetti      Origin: Liberia	Mchuzi wa Kamba (Zanzibar Prawn Curry)      Origin: Tanzania
Khichiri Prawn Sauce      Origin: India	Liberian-style Fried Cabbage      Origin: Liberia	Megrim Sole Olives with Squat Lobster Stuffing      Origin: Britain
King Prawn Pathia      Origin: Britain	Lime-cured New Caledonian Blue Prawn Salad      Origin: New Caledonia	Microwave Jambalaya      Origin: Britain
Kingklip and Prawn Biryani      Origin: South Africa	Lobster and Clotted Cream Tart      Origin: Britain	Microwave Prawn Gumbo      Origin: Britain
Kiribati Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Kiribati	Lobster Croquets      Origin: British	Microwave Three Fish Soup      Origin: Britain
Kontomire Stew (Cocoyam Leaf Stew)      Origin: Ghana	Lobster Curry      Origin: Britain	Mini Crab Cakes      Origin: Fusion
Korean Fish Cakes      Origin: Korea	Lobster Sauce      Origin: British	Miti Hue (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Tahiti
Korean-inspired Pollock Stew with Gochujang and Wild Greens      Origin: Korea	Lobster Sauce for Fish      Origin: Britain	Monkfish Skewers with Coconut and Coriander      Origin: Britain
Kouti (Cassava Croquettes)      Origin: Guinea	Locusta Elixa cum Cuminato (Boiled Lobster with Cumin Sauce)      Origin: Roman	Monlar Oo Chin Ye Hin (Myanmar Tangy Soup)      Origin: Myanmar
Kräftskiva (Swedish Crayfish Boil)      Origin: Sweden	Locustam et Scillas (Lobsters and Prawns)      Origin: Roman	Monterey Jack Cheese, Olive and Prawn Dip      Origin: American
Krain Krain (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Locustas Assas sic Facies (Roast Lobster is Made Thus)      Origin: Roman	Montserrat Jerk Prawns      Origin: Montserrat
Kreooli krabi-kotletid (Dominican Creole Crab Cakes)      Origin: Dominica	Logosta Assada (Roasted Lobster)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Moqueca de Camarão (Prawn Stew)      Origin: Angola
Kriibsen (Crayfish, Luxembourg Style)      Origin: Luxembourg	Lourenço Marques Prawns      Origin: South Africa	Moyin-Moyin      Origin: Nigeria
Krill Sweet Potato Cakes      Origin: Fusion	Lucky Prawns and Lotus Seeds      Origin: China	Mozambique Prawns      Origin: Mozambique
Krokèchi (Prawn Croquettes)      Origin: Aruba	Maelgi Rhost a Saws Bara Lawr (Roast Monkfish and Laverbread Sauce)      Origin: Welsh	N'dolé (Bitterleaf Stew)      Origin: Cameroon
Kyet tha Kar la Thar Hin (Chicken and Squash Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Maffi Hakko Bangtura (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea	N'dolé avec Poulet (Chicken N'Dolé)      Origin: Cameroon
Laksa      Origin: Malaysia	Mala Long Xia (Chinese Spicy Crayfish)      Origin: China	Nam Prig Pow (Roasted Chilli Paste)      Origin: Thailand
Laksa Paste      Origin: Singapore	Mala Long Xia (Chinese Spicy Crayfish)      Origin: China	Nam Prig Pud (Fried Chill Paste)      Origin: Thailand
Laksa Paste      Origin: Malaysia	Malaysian Goat Rendang      Origin: Malaysia	Nam Prik Pao (Thai Chilli Paste)      Origin: Thailand
Laksa Paste II      Origin: Malaysia	Malaysian Kapitan Chicken      Origin: Malaysia
Langouste à la Vanille (Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce)      Origin: Comoros	Malaysian Laksa      Origin: Malaysia

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